Nuts Could Help Improve Glucose Control

If you have type 2 diabetes, eating a handful of tree nuts a day could help improve your glucose control. Researchers examined results from 450 patients in 12 trials who replaced calories in their diets with those from nut sources. Eating an average of 56 grams of tree nuts (just under half a cup) daily over an average of eight weeks led to modest reductions in participants’ A1C, a measure of long-term glucose control (by 0.07 percentage points). Fasting blood glucose dropped by an average 2.7 mg/dl. The best results were seen when the nuts replaced carbohydrate in the diet, rather than fat or protein. Tree nuts include almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, hazelnuts, macadamia nuts, pecans, pine nuts, pistachios, and walnuts (but not peanuts, which are legumes). Source:PLOS One, published online July 30, 2014